India, the earth’s largest democracy, is a rapidly developing country, resulting in huge economic growth and new opportunities for all parts of the society. But, unfortunately, not everyone in India benefits from this process. Especially people in more remote and secluded regions of the country are left out and often even unaware of that fact. This is also the case in rural Rajasthan, where the arid climate conditions call for appropriately adapted and, most importantly, sustainable development. Twelve percent of Rajasthan�s population are Scheduled Tribes (2011 census), who are particularly facing development issues and challenges. These include scarcity of water and natural resources which leads to an inconsistency in food availability and nutrition. Aside from that, other major problems are infringement of child and women rights and the low quality in education, hygiene, sanitation and public services. If the tribal community is not included in India�s development, it becomes near impossible for them to overcome these challenges alone.

Vaagdhara is a major actor in tribal south Rajasthan to help the tribal community bettering their lives. Stationed in Banswara, Vaagdhara operates in the districts of Southern Rajasthan. Its projects focus on agriculture and livelihood, health and nutrition, child rights, child protection and education, women empowerment and micro financing. Furthermore, Vaagdhara supports and strengthens Community Based Organizations to voice and face their issues. It has its strong presence in Tribal areas of Southern Rajasthan since 20 years and has till date reached more than 53000 Tribal Families and 20,000 tribal women. While Vaagdhara implements its projects at grass-root level, it also represents the tribal people at state and national stage.

With this Blog we hope to create more exposure and attention on the issues in tribal south Rajasthan. Here are so many unique stories that unfold themselves but stay unnoticed and untold. We hope to be the mediator who brings these stories to the surface. Moreover, we want to create more transparency in Vaagdhara’s work and make it understandable and tangible for the general public. With this, we would also like to further develop volunteerism in the development sector where every individual can contribute to society.

We would be happy to share the experiences and impressions of our work with you and inform you about the current events in our projects.